"Manipulative messages" of extremists on social media have achieved considerable success in luring people, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said and called on the international community to counter violent extremism with preventive measures.
UN Secretary-General Ban presented his 'Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism' to the UN General Assembly as the 193-member body adopted a resolution on the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, with the aim of security peace and prosperity for succeeding generations.
Ban stressed that he has consistently called for the balanced implementation of the United Nations Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy.
"While we need to continue our concerted efforts to counter violent extremism, we have to broaden our responses, engage earlier and address the drivers of violent extremism. We need to complement the countering of violent extremism with preventive measures.
"Making prevention an integral part of our comprehensive approach will help us tackle many of the underlying conditions that drive individuals to join violent extremist groups," he said, adding that violent extremism undermines peace and security, human rights and sustainable development and no country or region is immune from its impacts.
"Violent extremism is a diverse phenomenon, without clear definition. It is neither new nor exclusive to any region, nationality or system of belief. Nevertheless, in recent years, terrorist groups such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), al-Qaida and Boko Haram have shaped our image of violent extremism and the debate on how to address this threat," he said in the plan.
The UN chief stressed that these terror groups' message of intolerance - religious, cultural, social - has had drastic consequences for many regions of the world.
"Holding territory and using social media for the global and real-time communication of their ideas and exploits, they seek to challenge our shared values of peace, justice and human dignity," the UN Chief said.
Spread of violent extremism has further aggravated an already unprecedented humanitarian crisis which surpasses the boundaries of any one region. Millions of people have fled the territory controlled by terrorist and violent extremist groups, he said.
The "manipulative messages" of violent extremists on social media have achieved considerable success in luring people especially young women and men into their ranks, Ban said.
Migratory flows have increased both away from and towards
the conflict zones, involving those seeking safety and those lured into the conflict as foreign terrorist fighters, further destabilising the regions concerned, Ban said.
While the Plan of Action has been developed within this context, it is intended to address violent extremism in all its forms and wherever it occurs, he said.
"While violent extremists have demonstrated some sophistication in their use of old and new media tools, it is equally true that we who reject their message have largely failed to communicate to those who are disillusioned and disenfranchised a vision of the future that captures their imagination and offers the prospect of tangible change," he said.
He asked UN member states to develop and implement national communications strategies, in close cooperation with social media companies and the private sector that are tailored to local contexts, gender sensitive and based on international human rights standards to challenge the narratives associated with violent extremism.
The 15-page resolution adopted by the UNGA by consensus "calls upon Member States, the United Nations and other appropriate international, regional and subregional organisations to step up their efforts" to implement, in an integrated and balanced manner, the UN Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy, an instrument adopted by the Assembly in 2006 to enhance national, regional and international efforts to counter terrorism.
The text also "reiterates its strong and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes".
The Assembly reviews the Strategy every two years, and the adoption of a new resolution came on the second and last day of the fifth review held at UN Headquarters in New York, on the tenth anniversary of the Strategy.
Ban welcomed the adoption of the resolution, saying it symbolises the international community's "strong resolve to act in unison and without delay to address terrorism and violent extremism".
"Terrorism and violent extremism pose a major threat to international peace and security, as well as to sustainable development, human rights and humanitarian action at the global, regional and national levels," Ban added.
